1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for performing a data processing on image data, and particularly to an image processing apparatus and an image processing method in which coding efficiency is improved while a harmful effect due to a rearrangement process is suppressed.
2. Related Art
As the resolution of a printed image becomes high, a technique for effectively coding the increased data at the time of printing and compressing the data becomes important. Thus, in an image processing apparatus and an image processing method of the related art, from the viewpoint of picture quality and code amount, a halftone process or the like is performed so that multi-value expression can be apparently made though the image is binary, and the data in which the data amount is reduced is transferred or is once stored in a hard disk drive (HDD).
For example, in JP-A-61-176253, as an example of the image processing apparatus and the image processing method of the related art, there is disclosed a technique in which the efficiency of a coding process is improved by rearranging an image expressed in multi-valued image by utilizing a dither method.
However, in the image processing apparatus and the image processing method of the related art, when the rearrangement process is indiscriminately performed on the image expressed in multi-valued image, contrary to the original object, there is a case where the coding efficiency becomes lower than before the image processing.
Then, it is desired to provide an image processing apparatus and an image processing method in which the coding efficiency is improved while the harmful effect (reduction in code amount) due to the rearrangement process is suppressed.